Keep The One You Love Close
by Utsaah
Summary: It was supposed to be just a simple trip to the supermarket. Merlin, husband of mafia boss Arthur Pendragon, would never imagined that it would end up with him getting held against his will. Arthur is furious after learning what happened and is determined to get his husband safely back into his arms again. (Contains threatening, violence, mpreg)
1. Chapter 1

**Contains threatening, violence, mpreg**

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_**A plotbunny that was desperate to come out for **_**_weeks_. _For the people who read my stories they will know that I love Merthur and I love mpregs. However, recently Mafia!Boss (ganglord) Arthur has been added to my 'love list' So here will be a short fic about that. (will have about 4 chapters)__  
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"You be careful, alright?" Arthur said as he held Merlin's face cradled in his hands and leaned in for a kiss, earning him some wolf whistling and 'ooh-ing' from the men around them. Arthur did not pay attention, he was used at getting that kind of reaction from his men by now. When he pulled back and looked at Merlin, he noticed how Merlin was beginning to start blushing like a little schoolgirl. Even after all this time Merlin wasn't used to always having people around them.

Arthur was not willing to let him ever go, especially not after what happened last week when his dearest Merlin passed out in the middle of the living room and giving him the scare of his life, but it seems he had no choice now.

"I will, you know I will. And I have Oliver and James with me, I'm sure I'll be alright. It's just a quick trip to the shop and back. I'm just in serious need of some food right now and you know how picky I am now the symptoms have started." Merlin chuckled, but Arthur's face remained serious.

"I just don't want you to strain yourself too much and put yourself into danger." Arthur moved his hands to Merlin's midsection. "Or him or her."

Merlin smiled, putting his hand over Arthur's. "I'm sure _we_ will be fine. I just wish you could come with me, instead of the thing you have to do." Merlin said, his smile dropping.

"We'll have to go now, sir." Gwaine said tapping Arthur's shoulder, once he was quite done wolf whistling the couple. Arthur turned to him and glowered deeply at which Gwaine backed off with his hands raised.

Arthur's hand resumed at his place on Merlin's cheek. "I have an urgent matter to take care off, I will love to come with you the next time."

Merlin leaned into the touch with his eyes closed, slowly guiding his own hands up and gripping the one Arthur put on his face. He brought it down, his eyes following the movement. Merlin raised his eyes yet again to look at Arthur, at that moment a kind of sadness was harbouring within Merlin's eyes. He knew what these urgent matters usually meant and it wouldn't be something good. "Please, do not kill another person. If not for me, do it for our baby."

"Merlin…" Arthur sighed, "I would do anything for you, but when you married me, you knew that this is what I do and I can't just stop it. This person defied _me, _thinking he could borrow money without paying it back.I cannot let this go without repercussions, what message would it send if I would let this go unnoticed? It's business, nothing more. Don't get yourself worked up about it."

Arthur guided Merlin towards the door with his arm slung behind the lither man's back when Merlin sighed at Arthur's answer. The door was being held open by one of his men and Arthur saw that the sleek black car was already waiting on the cobblestone driveway, with Oliver holding the back of the car open for Merlin.

Merlin got in and bend forward to get one last kiss from Arthur before he would go. As Arthur backed away, Oliver shut the door and Arthur eyed the brown haired man at the side of the car. "You better keep him safe or you wish you have never been born." Arthur told Oliver with a dark and warning tone, the other man gulped deeply, nodding his head.

"Of course, sir."

"Good." Arthur replied curtly as he saw two other black cars pull up the driveway. He watched the car that Merlin occupied, drive off and as he watched he brought his hand to his back. Arthur pulled his gun from between the waistband of his pants and pulled back the slide, hearing the click to confirm that the gun loaded.

"Men." He said with a jerk of his head, getting into the first car while five other men followed to get into the second car.

**~oOoOo~**

Merlin picked several items out of the food shelves and put them in the little basket that James held. Oliver was descreetly watching the store to see if there were any intruders that may want to cause Merlin harm. He seriously did not want to feel Arthur's wrath as even so much as one of Merlin's hairs got damaged while he was on duty.

"Uuh, I'll combine this chocolate bar… with this barbecue sauce! Yum!"

While Merlin's face bursted out in almost glee, the two men that were accompanying him were scrunching up their noses. They'd seen some freakishly food combinations in the past month and a half since Merlin's food cravings were unleashed, but this one was probably topping that list. They wouldn't comment on it though, Merlin could be - since he was pregnant - just as scary as Arthur.

"Oh and a 'Curly Wurly' of course. You know, for Arthur. He can't have enough of these things, how he's able to keep that body in shape is a mystery beyond my understanding!" Merlin prattled on to his friends - and bodyguards as well - as he made his way further down the aisle and closer to check out.

As the items were placed in a plastic bag and notes being passed over, Merlin said goodbye with a broad smile to the girl behind the register and walked into the cold fall weather, shivering as the cold air hit him after leaving the warm store. He noticed the two men besides him eyeing him with caution but Merlin just drew his collar up higher and wrung his hands together, blowing some air in them to get them just a fraction warmer.

"We're almost at the car Merlin, I'll turn up the heater for you."

"Thanks James, I will need it, my fingers are _free_-zing!" Merlin laughed and saw the orange light of their car light up as James hit the button on the key to unlock it and another pressed another to open the boot of the car.

Merlin quickly slid in the back of the car and clicked his seatbelt close in the holder. As soon as James put the key in the ignition, he turned on the promised heating _and_ the seat warmers as a bonus, making Merlin relax into the seat with a satisfying feeling.

**_'On our way back_****.' **Merlin texted to Arthur when James started to back out of their parking spot in the parking garage. He wasn't expecting an answer back seeing that his husband was currently engaged in _something_ else and didn't had time to respond to something meaningless as a message from him. He was busy putting his phone back into his pocket when his head collided with the car window, making his vision blurry for a few moments and his phone fall out of his hand and onto the floor. The car slided a few metres to the side by the impact and Merlin could hear the screeching tires as well as someone yelling something at him but he had no idea who or what. Then the car came to a stop.

Putting his hand in front of his eyes and onto his brow, Merlin heard the two front doors open and someone still talking to him. Just a few words filtered through his hazy daze. "_Merlin… stay… car... hit… Cenred._" Before the two doors shut close.

"Wha?" Merlin asked. He felt as if he had drank far too much alcohol. His vision finally started to clear up a little bit and noises and voices were getting more coherent again. Merlin unclasped his seatbelt and at the same time was trying to find his phone, but he couldn't find it. When the passenger door opened and a recognizable black suit appeared in his blurry vision, he jumped, but then he recognize the man in front of him by his voice. It was Oliver. Merlin could hear shooting closeby and felt Oliver tugging on his arm. He almost stumbled out of the car but Oliver held him upright.

Merlin blinked heavily, the objects in his view still moved way to shakingly and the raised voices were increasing his now throbbing headache.

"Merlin you need to keep moving." Oliver urged, glancing back to see that they were chased by three men. Oliver fired some shots, turning his body just the bare minimum as well as keeping Merlin upright and moving forward.

Oliver suddenly stopped, with Merlin almost lurching forward if Oliver wasn't there to stop him. Merlin lifted his head to see how a big black SUV came towards them with increasing speed. Oliver's grip on Merlin's arm tightened as he flung himself on Merlin, effectively pushing him out of the way of the oncoming car. Merlin groaned loudly as his head came in contact with something solid for the second time this evening.

He felt the weight lifted off him and two pair of arms hooking under his shoulder, pulling him upright in one swift movement. It caused his head to feel as heavy as stone and his headache reaching another level of soreness. He stood unsteady on his two legs.

"Yeah that's him." Merlin heard an unfamiliar deep voice say. He wasn't able to move his head to look who the person was, but he didn't sound all too friendly.

He heard his two friends shouting words and calling his name - both from a different direction - but he just didn't have it in him to look around hi,m or even to reply to them. He could hardly move a finger without a flair of pain searing through his head and making it throb even more than it already did. He enjoyed the blackness in front of his eyes when he had closed them, it seemed to soothe the pain just a tiny bit.

"Merlin, run!_"_ James said as he was pushed past Merlin and thrown on the ground next to Oliver. It was vaguely heard by Merlin and knew the voice belonged to James, but he felt far too good being in in this oblivion that he didn't had the energy to acknowledge his friend. He heard a soft thud next to him followed by a grunt, but as soon as Merlin heard it, his legs weren't able to carry his body anymore. He might not be weighing so much, but his legs gave away, only to be caught and held upright by the two unfamiliar men that were already holding him.

"What to do with these two?" Another unfamiliar voice asked.

"Kill them."

**~oOoOo~**

Arthur walked back through the front door of his large mansion, with the thought of spending a good time with Merlin. Firstly by pampering him with a foot and back massage and hopefully Merlin would spoil him afterwards with some hot steaming sex. Just the thought of it send Arthur's heart rate through the roof.

He frowned just slightly when he only saw a few of his men littering the hallway, but his husband was nowhere in sight. Usually Merlin would fly around his neck, the minute he would step over the threshold but now it remained eerily quiet. Not even so much as his husband's familiar footsteps. Maybe Merlin was mad at him again because of what he had to do. Arthur knew how Merlin hated him for the work he did, and Arthur loved him for caring about it, but this was his life. He grew up within the mafia business, with his father at the head of the whole organisation and when his father died it was only natural that _he_ would be the one to continue to lead the organisation.

He knew Merlin would be back already, he had read the text a few minutes ago, that Merlin had sent fifteen minutes ago. The only explanation was that Merlin was indeed angry with him and would be residing in their bedroom, waiting for Arthur to do a buttload of apologizing to make up for it. Before he could even take another step forward, two of his most trusted men came rushing towards them.

"Leon, Lancelot." He said, acknowledging the two men.

"Sir, one of our cars has been ambushed. Two are dead. Footage of the scene is now being downloaded." They took a pause to assess Arthur's face. It wasn't entirely unheard of that one of their people would be ambushed, there was enough rivalry in the city. Lancelot and Leon were more afraid in telling Arthur _who_ exactly was in that car and prepared themselves for the worst.

"Okay." Arthur answered absentmindedly, drawling out the word without giving it too much thought. He got more irritated by the two men that were stalling him with information that wasn't really interesting to him. They knew that he shouldn't be bothered about cases like this and knew that they could take care of it themselves.

"Sir." Leon tentatively started. "It was Merlin's car."


	2. Chapter 2

There was complete mayhem in the Pendragon mansion. Chairs and other pieces of furniture went flying and vases crashed against the wall. A complete distressed Arthur was the cause of it and was breathing heavily through his nose and punching everyone who was even looking at him the wrong way.

The scene of the kidnapping could be seen on the big screen in the projector room, and Arthur went ballistic after he had watched it. He saw how two of his men were shot straight in the heart - no chance on survival - and how his husband, his love, was being held in the grips of two soon dead men. The third figure in the video was the one that made Arthur's blood boil with anger, it was Cenred Escetir. Gang lord and arch enemy of the Pendragons.

The Escetirs had control over the Eastern part of the city and were always pushing the limits. How many times they've tried to overthrow the Pendragons was too much to even keep track off and practically forgotten, but now, _now_, they've gone too far. They had taken his husband _and_ his child from him and boundaries were going to be overstepped.

"Find that piece of shit and report back to me immediately." Arthur growled, slamming the door close.

**~oOoOo~**

"Wake u-up." A deep singing voice whispered in his ear.

Merlin groaned at the sudden noise and felt a wetness drip from _somewhere_ down his face. He just wanted to bring his hand up to find out where this wetness was sliding down from, but found out soon enough that he wasn't able to do it. His hands were unable to move due to something holding them, he just couldn't figure out what it was that kept him from moving.

Cracking his eyes open he had to immediately close them because of the immense bright light that was suddenly surrounding him. He gasped when his hair was gripped tight and his head tipped back, making his eyes fly open and he found himself staring straight into big brown eyes. Only a second later something else was attracting his attention, something shiny and that something was feeling cold against the skin of his jugular.

The man let go of his hair, making his head fall forward and Merlin squinted his eyes, letting them adjust to the bright light and after a few second he could see what that shining object was, it was a gun. Merlin never liked them and made Arthur take off his own gun when he'd be home. He knew though that Arthur kept a gun in their bedroom, even when Arthur thinks he isn't aware of it. He hadn't said anything about it though, knowing that Arthur felt better with a gun at his disposal, and secretly he liked that feeling of safety as well, how much it simultaneously may creep him out. At this point of time he'd just wish that his husband was here with said gun to protect him and his child.

"Mmm, you sure are a treat for the eye. No wonder Arthur married you." The man said, brushing a finger along Merlin's jawline. Merlin jerked away from the touch as best as he could but had found out that the restriction he felt earlier was caused by him being tied onto a chair. His hands and legs were unable to move and it made Merlin feel vulnerable. Now he wasn't able to move, he withdrew to the thing he could best. Talk back.

"_Don't_ touch me! Who the hell are you and what do you want."

The man chuckled, making his acquaintances that filled the room laugh with him. "Oh my. Beauty and fierceness. You must be a jackpot. But you're right, where are my manners. I'm Cendred Escetir."

"And that's supposed to mean something to me? And get that fucking thing out of my face."

Cenred bent over and tapped the loop of the gun against Merlin's chest. "You sure are a _de_-light. I like you already." Standing up he crossed his arms, the gun still clearly visible. "Your husband and I… we share a very profound history. But the question here is not who I am, but how valuable you are to me. You see I found out a little secret." He beckoned one of the men in the room forward with a jerk of his head. The man stepped forward, carrying some photographs.

"You see, Merlin, there was something very weird about you and your husband's activity lately. Six visits to the hospital in just four months, now either you have some kind of serious disease _or…_" He paused, pointing at the picture that showed himself and Arthur walking out of the hospital with a big smile on their faces. Merlin could see that it was taken after the last hospital visit when they went in for a sonogram. "...there is an happy occasion waiting to happen, if t the smiles on both your faces should give us any indication. My guess is that there is a Pendragon heir on the way." He stood up and walked to the window, baring his teeth in a crooked smile.

"You won't hurt her!" Merlin yelled, moving harshly against his restrictions and shaking in anger. "I'll _kill_ you myself."

Cenred spun round and walked back to the chair. "Her?"

Merlin stilled, it was out of his mouth before he had thought of the consequences. Arthur didn't even know the sex of their baby, he wanted it to be a surprise, but Merlin couldn't wait that long and so when Arthur was in the hallway making some calls, he had asked his doctor about it, who then had confirmed that it would be a girl.

"Well, well. This changes the whole plan." Cenred turned to a few men at the window. "Take our _guest_ to his room… and make sure he stays there." He added with a darker tone, walking out the room. As soon as the doors clicked close three men walked towards him and started to undo his bindings as well as gagging and blindfolding him.

**~oOoOo~**

_Merlin made me a totally whimp_. That was what Arthur thought when he had retreated back into his room, holding and smelling one of Merlin's shirts. That pasty white, too thin black haired guy had so much influence on him that his father would totally disapprove of it if he would still be alive. But he didn't care, he loved Merlin and he had started to grown love for the child in his abdomen the moment Merlin showed the first positive pregnancy test.

His whole life he didn't think about getting into a relation, let alone becoming a father. But then, _then_, Merlin had to come along and made his stone cold heart crumble into something far softer with each second that was spent with the bumbling idiot.

It was supposed to be just a quick trip to the dentist but ended up in a first date with the cute dental assistant trainee that ultimately resulted in marriage that already took place a year and two months ago. Changes started to happen and Arthur didn't complained about it one second, while he usually cringed by even the slightest change in his life. His house really transformed into a home since Merlin moved in about two years ago. Flowers appeared on tables, warm colours covered the walls and furniture were not sleek and white, but a warmer colour and comfortable with little cushions. His home had just a general feeling of love and commitment and he felt it every time he entered his house. Yes Merlin had stolen and captured his heart - as well as that of his men - in a fraction of a second. How? Arthur still didn't know, and it didn't matter at this moment, he had more important matters to think of. His love was taken from him by that bastard Cenred.

Their family vendetta was already in progress before he was even born and went back generations. About _what_ exactly they were indifference of, only god knew. Arthur just knew that his father told him when was just a toddler that the Escetir family was untrustworthy and not to be cooperated with, so Arthur decided that Cenred was his arch enemy from day one.

Arthur sneaked a glance to the cradle that was already assembled and ready for use, even if it still took at least four or five more months until the little one would make its appearance. Arthur wanted to give the child a room of its own, but Merlin insisted that he or she would sleep in their room for the first weeks, so he could protect the baby and keep him or her safe. Of course Arthur agreed, he agreed with every decision Merlin for the ones that involved life and death decision of people, although more and more Arthur would listen to Merlin's arguments. Even though he would deny that Merlin had influence in these decisions.

Taking in a deep breath of air he straightened himself and schooled his featured, despite the fact that his men already knowing how much Arthur cared about Merlin.

He entered the headquarters where his men were furiously typing away on their keyboards and Arthur heard how shouting back and forth was in progress… until Arthur stepped inside and everything went dead silent.

Leon was brave enough to step forward and presented him a sheet with some information. It wasn't much and they had no idea where Cenred's headquarters were located, it was like seeking a needle in a stack of hay. They only knew it had to be somewhere on the east coast.

"The licence plate on the SUV was a fake, a diversion. It didn't lead to anywhere, _but_ the tracker in Oliver's jacket was activated beforehand and led us to this house when they were transported. There is a big chance that is where Merlin is being kept. We tried tracking Merlin's phone but he must have lost it in the car when they were hit." Leon looked over his shoulder to Lancelot's computer screen, before turning his head back. "We're trying to get camera footage of that area but the code to it is well secured. But I think it's worth a shot to check the area out."

There was some dark emotion flickering through Arthur's eyes at hearing those last few words. "Worth a shot…. _worth. a. shot!_ This is my husband _and _child we're talking about." He flung the sheet of paper back in Leon's arms. "You make sure you're hundred per cent sure about your case and then report back to me."

"O-of course." Leon made a beeline to one of the computers where Lancelot was typing away, while Arthur stomped away to the living room and poured himself a whiskey from the crystal decanter. He swirled the content of the glass round but instead of taking a swig of it he threw the glass in the burning fireplace. The glass shattered and it was making the fire whoosh in aggravation and flames growing in tenfold.

"S-sir." A small voice from behind him made Arthur turn around and saw one of his new recruitments standing in the doorframe.

"What."

"Lancelot has cracked the code to the surveillance camera. They want you to see the foo…tage." The younger man finished to no one as Arthur had stormed past him once he told that the code was cracked.

"Show me." Arthur bellowed once he had thrown the double doors of the quarters open and walked to where Leon and Lancelot were seated. Lancelot pressed play and Arthur watched arms crossed.

He saw the same SUV as on the other video stopping at one of the villas in the Eastern side of the city and the four doors of the car opened with Cenred getting out and pointing his hand to somewhere. Two men came to his side and pulled someone out of the car. It was dark outside already at the time of the video, but Arthur knew immediately that it was his husband that was being carried by the two men. His nails dug inside his own flesh and his breathing started to become more harsh. His eyes spew fire and his mouth thinned into a small line.

"I'm going to kill him." Arthur gritted through his teeth. He looked around making sure every one of his men looked at him. "Pack up and prepare. We leave in five minutes."

**~oOoOo~**

Merlin struggled against the cuff wrapped around his foot with a chain that was long enough for him to walk across the room, but not enough to actually leave it. His gag and blindfold were now gone and he found himself in a decent sized suite with a queen sized four poster bed, an oak closet and a large desk made out of the same oak as the closet. There was an adjacent bathroom, which held a shower, toilet and sink.

The whole room was decorated in a fancy style, but felt bleak and cold to Merlin, nothing like the atmosphere he had created home. He shook and tugged at the chain once more but it wouldn't budge in its hold and Merlin sagged down on the ground with his back against the side of the bed. He moved one hand up to his head and felt the bandage that was put on the supposedly spot of when his head collided with the window.

Getting his hand down onto his stomach, he started to talk to it. "Daddy's going to come soon. I know he is." Merlin whispered against his stomach. He hadn't felt her moving yet in the four months he was pregnant, but his instincts told him that his child was alive. "And when he has taken us home, I don't think we will be ever let alone. Well I know for sure he won't. What you say about that, huh?"

He smiled down but his head snatched up when he heard the key turn in the lock and he scrambled up to his feet, using the bed as a support. Entering was Cenred, he already hated the man the first time he laid his eyes on him.

"You should be resting. Stressing isn't good for the baby." Cenred told him on a manner that was almost considered caring, but Merlin could hardly believe the words. Not now he was being kept here against his will, and _cha__ined_ to the wall like some kind of dog.

Cenred sat down on the bed and patted the space next to him, Merlin backed away grabbing one of the posters instead and shook his head. "Don't think I'll come even close to you."

A smirk appeared. "Well your choice. You have no idea how hard it was to get you away from _Pendragon_." It was spoken with an amount of venom and disgust. It was in a way he never heard Arthur spoke before, and he had experienced angry Arthur. Cenred continued. "He was glued at your side like a piece of gum sticking on the bottom of a shoe. Never leaving you out of his sight and always having those pathetic bodyguards around. But tonight was different, those two supposedly bodyguards were easy to get rid off and we had free reign in taking you. Finally."

"They were good men!" Merlin yelled, grasping the poster for some more support as his world was starting to spin again. The wound on his head must've caused more than just a simple headache, but he would have to be killed first if he would ever come and sit next to the man who disrupted his life.

Cenred chuckled, muttering. "Well obviously not good enough." He cleared his throat and stood up, taking a few steps towards Merlin who tried to get away from him.

Merlin held up a weak hand. His vision blurring with each movement again. "Sta..stay ba..ack." He breathed out, clenching his eyes tightly shut, trying to fight the way his body wanted to shut down. He wouldn't want to pass out, not now, not again. Not in the presence of this man.

"I told you that you should sit down. I don't like to be challenged Merlin." He reached out one hand and Merlin opened his eyes feeling that Cenred touched him. Even this small movement proved to be too much and he started falling sideways into Cenred's arms. Cenred caught him, swaying a little bit backwards by the sudden weight falling onto him before picking Merlin up under his arms and knees and laying him gently down on the bed. He started to card his hand through Merlin's hair and with the other hand feeling around Merlin's stomach. His bump hardly was visible, despite Merlin being thin and already four months along.

**~oOoOo~**

When Merlin had woken up for the second time that day, he felt a warm body behind him and an hand being run through his hair. He first thought it was Arthur and relaxed into the warmth. It took him a second to realise what had happened the last hours and his eyes flew open, trying to get away from the smirking Cenred, but Cenred had a tight grip on his arm making him stay at the exact same spot.

"Good, you're awake." He said casually. "It was about time though, nearly took you an hour."

There was one thing Arthur always told him. 'Never cry in the presence of others, it shows weakness.' But right this second Merlin felt desperate and wanted to cry like he never had before. It has been hours and Arthur still wasn't there to fight for him.

"Just tell me what it is what you want." Merlin said, feeling defeated and ashamed about feeling defeated. He turned his head slightly up and looked at Cenred, he saw the man's eyes glistening with _something_. Pride, victory? Merlin wasn't sure.

"I wanted to kill you and by doing that killing your child, Pendragon's heir. But then you told me something interesting, the sex of the baby."

Merlin finally jerked free out of the hold as he felt Cenred's hold slipping. He jumped off the bed and went as far away from Cenred as he possibly could with his leg chained, but Cenred just calmly stepped off the bed and walked towards him, simultaneously finishing his story.

"Pendragon women are far more passionate and far fiercer than the men. Just look at your pathetic husband, he's a total joke for whole mankind. Well anyways, I'm sure you're aware of his half-sister Morgana, not only is she Arthur's half-sister, she's my wife's half-sister as well. Morgana is a beautiful and fierce person, just like yourself and has convinced me many times that she's on my side. Now if your child would be a boy he'd be not interesting to me, but a girl… a girl is far more convenient in this business. They'll appear innocent, they are sexy and can get jobs done far more discreetly than men."

Merlin started to growl with every new sentence and narrowed his eyes. He knew vaguely about Morgana, knowing that she left the house when she was only sixteen because she was fed up with Uther. Cenred only laughed at all his actions and came closer and closer until he had backed Merlin up in the corner and putting an hand close to his head on the wall, he leaned in closer to whisper, "I've made an exception for a Pendragon family member before, I can make it again. I want your child."

"Never." Merlin answered, cradling his stomach.

"You will, even if I have to force you. With your child at my side I will not only have more power but have power over Pendragon. He will bow to my will and I will control this city on my own at last." He grabbed Merlin's chin and forced him to look at him. Their lips just inches apart. "And _you_, you will do just fine as my sex slave."

Merlin's eyes grew wider and his breath caught in the back of his throat. He was paralyzed, he couldn't move. A distant noise that sounded like a crash could be heard and both his as Cenred's eyes flickered to the door. Merlin wanted to yell but Cenred slapped an hand over it.

He reached around his back with his free hand and pulled the black gun he used earlier, out of his holster. Cenred smirked, removing the safety and pulling back the hammer of it. The click was loud in the now quiet room and Cenred looked into Merlin's eyes. "I think we got company."


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin's heart pounded heavily against his rib case whentwo heavily armed men entered the room after a swift knock. The two men saw their boss and his guest in the corner of the room in a somewhat intimate position. "Sir. Pendragon and his men have entered the premises."

"Good. Why don't you give him a warm welcome?" Cenred smirked, dismissing the men.

Merlin's breath caught the moment Cenred turned his head back and looked at him with a dark look in his eyes, he didn't know what Cenred would do to him now Arthur was here. Merlin's heart fluttered for a moment about the fact that his husband was here to save him, but at the same time it felt heavy with worry on how things could go. Gulping, he brought his hands up to Cenred's chest and tried to push him away. Unfortunally the man in front of him had the upper hand and moved closer.

"I'm wondering-" Cenred whispered close to Merlin's ear. "-what your husband's reaction will be when he finds you in bed with another man."

Merlin shook his head violently, trying once more to push the bigger man away and like a curse, dots were starting to invade his vision again with the movement. He couldn't believe how fragile he was at this moment, all he wanted was to keep strong no matter what. As he was busy trying to clear his vision, he was viciously dragged forward by Cenred and thrown onto his back on top of the bed. The chain rattling angrily with the sudden movements.

Merlin groaned as his head bounced onto the bed and rolled to the side, wincing as he heard gunshots being fired off somewhere downstairs. He just hoped that Arthur would be safe and that his friends would be unharmed. What happened to the men that served Cenred could care him less, all he wanted was to be taken away from this place.

A small twitch in his stomach brought his attention back to the now. As he started to blink more excessively to get rid of the dots that were dancing in front of him, he also saw Cenred coming closer with a predatory glare in his eyes. The twitch in his stomach grew and was becoming more of a pinch now and it bothered Merlin, something was not right, he just knew it. The gunshots appeared to be coming closer but Cenred ignored them and crept on top of Merlin's thighs, his hands wandering over all Merlin's chest and arms.

Merlin felt it, but didn't respond to it, the pinch he felt earlier now started to feel as a cramp - a heavy one - and he paniced at not knowing what was happening to him. He panted, breathing in chocking sobs and trying to wrap his arms around his abdomen, but Cenred prevented him from doing so, grabbing both his wrists in one hand, pinning them above his head.

Cenred felt victorious, thinking that the tears that were streaming so excessively down his captive's cheeks were caused by him and he enjoyed every distressed sound coming from Merlin.

"P-please - oh god – s-something's wrong." Merlin whimpered and groaned, shutting his eyes and concentrating on letting the pain disappear.

Cenred bent down, nipping at the skin of Merlin's neck. "Mmm, yes the fact that you're still dressed." He murmured against the skin, bringing his hands beneath Merlin's shirt.

Merlin grunted, the pain had flared up. "N-no." Opening his eyes, he noticed that Cenred was busy unbuckling his own belt and pulled it out the belt loops in one swift movement and started to string the belt around Merlin's thin wrists, ignoring the now close gunshots.

Merlin could feel the heavy cramp in his stomach building up to a level he had never experienced before, the pain that came with it was almost unbearable. He cried, hardly giving Cenred a second thought even when the man was just inches away from him. He knew there was something wrong with the baby, he just hoped he wouldn't lose her.

Breathing in and out the choked sobs was becoming to be a restricting factor and he willed himself to calm down, but there was just so much going on at once that it was a hopeless case. A gun being fired just outside the door made him jump out of his own misery for a moment and his half lidded eyes moved to the door. Cenred stilled as well and watched how the door burst open and the one he hated the most stood in the door frame. Arthur.

Anger was spewing from Arthur's eyes to the man who was violating his husband and aimed his gun at Cenred's head, ready to fire. Gwaine and Leon appeared behind him, their firearms drawn and loaded.

Cenred knew that they were closing in on him and he pulled Merlin up, the same time he slithered off the bed and held Merlin front of him as a shield.

Merlin found Arthur's eyes instantly and groaned loudly, bringing his bound hands towards his stomach, clutching it as best as he could with the restriction around his hands. The pain was even more severe standing up and the blackness in front of his eyes started to increase. All Merlin wanted to do was to curl up in a ball and make it all stop.

"Give it up Cenred, all your men are dead." Arthur's voice broke through and Merlin wanted to concentrate with all his might on it. His husband's voice was always the factor that could make him relax, but now it was impossible to focus with the searing pain going through his stomach.

"That won't mean I give up so easily." Cenred snarled and his gun had appeared in his hand again, pointing it to Merlin's stomach. "I could kill one" – bringing the gun up to Merlin's head – "or I can kill them both. Your choice Pendragon."

Arthur strained his arm, supporting it with his other hand. Gwaine and Leon fanned out and took each a side of Arthur, slowly creeping forward. It only made Cenred tighten his hold on the now barely conscious Merlin. What Cenred didn't realise was that Merlin's head fell a little more sideways and it gave Arthur the perfect aim to shoot.

Cenred shook his head, eyeing all three men.. "Ah, ah, a-ah. I wouldn't do tha–"

A shot… and then silence.

Merlin felt himself falling, not conscious enough to catch himself - which would be hard enough with his hands bound – and waited for the impact with the hard ground, but instead of some hard surface he found himself gripped tight in strong arms and a familiar scent filled his nose.

More men of the Pendragon organisation gathered into the room and watched how Gwaine and Leon were dragging the gang lord of the Eastern side of the city away by his arms, a gush of blood continued to stream out of the head wound and leaving a trail behind. Their eyes settled on their boss holding his husband in his arms, untying the belt and tossing it to the side with a snarl. He started feeling for a pulse in Merlin's neck.

"No, you are _not_ going to die. Merlin, open your eyes." He shook him forcefully after only feeling a faint pulse. "Merlin! open. your. eyes!" He turned, holding his tears at bay. He would not be found crying in front of his men. "Get a car!"

Men scrambled over each other to carry out the task that has been given. Only Lancelot stayed behind and started to unlock the cuff on Merlin's ankle. He had snatched the key off Cenred's body before it would be dragged away to a place where he'd never would be found again.

Just being alone with Lancelot, made Arthur lose his stern expression and he broke out in tears. He checked another time for a pulse, it was still there but Arthur became worried on how faint it was. Shaking his husband again and calling his name loudly made Merlin open his eyes halfway, groaning by the pain it gave him.

Arthur sighed in relief for both his husband's conciousness as well as hearing one of his men yell that the car was in front. Quickly, Arthur picked him up. "Merlin stay with me, you're going to be fine. Stay awake." Arthur descended the stairs and rushed out the door, walking fast towards the waiting car. As soon as they were inside the driver took off.

"We're almost at the hospital. Take deep breaths."

Merlin shook his head, gasping for air and frowns appearing all over his countenance. "Hurts." He grunted, clenching his jaws tightly onto each other.

Arthur brushed a stray of hair aside from Merlin's face. "Hold on, just two more minutes." He felt a hand grasp against his shirt a few times before Merlin got a good grip on the fabric. He drew Arthur closer.

"Keep her safe." Was all he whispered before his eyes turned back into his head and the tight grip in Arthur's shirt loosened.

**~oOoOo~**

_"-and with the help of steroids we've managed to stop the labour."_

_"Oh thank god. So he and the baby will be fine?"_

_"At this moment it's still uncertain to tell for sure, but so far they are fine, yes. We just want to keep your husband here for a day, where we will keep checking both his as the baby's vitals every two hours. If everything's okay, he can go home in the morning."_

_"Thank you doctor."_

Merlin heard the talking vaguely after regaining a little more consciousness. He could distinguish the two voices that were getting mixed up in his brain. At least one of the voices was recognizable, Arthur. The other was still unfamiliar to him. He had too little control over his limbs and head to move them, but he could hear shuffling of feet, doors opening and closing and chairs scraping on the floor, after which more voices followed. Merlin was just too tired to concentrate on it for long and let himself go into oblivion again.

Merlin awoke for a second time a few hours later when someone touched his face and ran an hand through his hair, his eyelids felt too heavy to lift but then he heard Arthur's voice, pleading and begging him to wake up. He just _had_ to comfort his husband, his oh so tough husband that now sounded like a broken shell of his former self.

Cracking his eyes open just slightly, he caught his husband now sitting with his face into his hands. Opening his eyes some more he inspected the room. _Hospital_, he reasoned to himself and slowly the events of the past agonizing hours came back to him. His child, his little girl, was she alright? Hands flew to his stomach and he still felt the bump, but that wasn't enough reassurance to him.

The motion alerted Arthur and he was at Merlin's side in just one move. "Hey, hey. Calm down, everything's fine."

"T-the baby."

"She's fine." Arthur said with a smile on his face. He was baffled by Merlin's words back in the car and thought Merlin was just using a random sex to address their baby, but in the hospital it was confirmed to him that the baby is a girl. How happy he was about that, it wouldn't matter to him whether it was a boy or girl, but when his world was existing out of mostly males, he was ecstatic to find out that their baby would be a girl.

Merlin relaxed a little bit, sinking back into the pillow. "She is?"

Arthur bent forward, one hand supporting his body while he leaned on the bed and the other, stroking through some strands of his husband's hair. "Yes. And you're going to be fine too, if you'll stay calm and keep resting. While you were unconscious, you were quite stressed and giving the doctors some worries."

Merlin frowned. "I did?"

"Yes. Your blood pressure wouldn't go down and they were worried that you'd be slipping into a coma." His voice cracked a little bit, but Merlin heard it clearly. He extended his arm out from under the warmth of the blankets and placed it on the hand Arthur used to support himself.

"We'll be fine."

**~oOoOo~**

_FIVE MONTHS LATER_

"Ugh, come out, come out!" Merlin sighed aggravatingly, his head falling back against the headrest of his bed. At this stage of the pregnancy, he was unable to move anymore, perhaps the short distance to the bathroom and back, but that was basically it. Arthur was just in the process of dressing himself and chuckled.

"I don't think she'll listen to that though."

"No she won't because she's just as stubborn as you! Arthur, please save me from this misery, I've been a week overdue!" He sighed louder and covered his eyes with his forearm.

"If the labour doesn't start on his own, they will do the c-section on Saturday. You just have to wait until then."

"But it's fucking Tuesday! You can't expect me to wait until _Saturday_! Arthur just have sex with me." Merlin was desperate, he'd tried _everything_ to get the labour starting on its own, but nothing seemed to work. He ate spicy food, ate pineapples, rubbed his nipples, danced – in the best possible way, but it failed because he could barely stand on his feet for more than a minute. And the last trick that the doctors told him would work wonders was drinking raspberry tea, well no luck there! He had read in some of the information books that sex could help to speed up the labour, it was worth a try.

"Merlin, we can't have sex."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"See you don't have a valid excuse, so get your athletic body here this second, or I swear you'll never get sex ever again. And I mean _never_ _ever_."

Arthur budged. Merlin threatening to never have sex with him again was something he used a lot in arguments, and for the sake of not wanting to risk it, Arthur always agreed - no matter how undignified he felt afterwards to let his husband get his way, _again_. Of course none of his men would ever get to hear about it from him, he'd be looking like a total whimp instead of the powerful man on top of the secret underground organisation.

Already sprawled on the bed, Merlin opened his still clothed legs. He eyed Arthur half lidded and saw how Arthur took off his just put on clothes. The hormones were already vultering through his body just seeing his husband naked, a defined golden body with an overload of perfectly sculpted muscles. Seeing the strong jaw and those plumb kissable lips that were so inviting now made Merlin pull Arthur down in a hard kiss, fingers carding through his hair and grabbing a fistful of it in his hand. But then he let go, pushing Arthur away. Looking down to his pants he discovered that his pyjama bottoms and his bed cover were wet, and not because he had emptied his bladder.

He put all his time and energy in reading books about what to do while being pregnant, how to keep healthy and what to do _a__fter_ the baby was born, but he hadn't really concentrated on what to do when labout starts. He felt stupid right now and paniced.

He had already decided with his doctor to go with a c-section - because in his case it would better for him and the baby, instead of a natural birth. Normally a c-section would be scheduled, but Merlin declined. He wanted to wait until the labour started on itself, thinking he'd be going into labour _before_ the approximate due date that had been set by his doctor. How much of a disappointment that was when the due date had passed, but it was now not the time to linger on that.

He tried to recall the explanation his obstetrician gave him on how the procedure would go, but now the moment was there, he had forgotten everything and panic started to strike him with a huge dose of reality.

"It's time?" Arthur asked shocked, coming to the same conclusion as his husband after seeing the wetness.

"It's time." Merlin answered wide eyed. Arthur hazzardly moved through the room, shoving his jeans on and pulling a shirt over his head. He found some pair of shoes for him and Merlin to wear and turned around with a new pair of slacks for Merlin. He ran on adrenaline and everything just _happened_. Quickly changing Merlin into a pair of fresh pants and putting on some shoes he took a deep breath, thinking of the next step that should come.

After Merlin came down from the initial shock, he was happy that his husband was luckily more attentive and was now on his cell phone calling the hospital, telling them that Merlin's water broke and that they would be in the hospital in about fifteen minutes. Ending the call, he immediately dialled another number - Merlin learned he called one of his men downstairs – and told them to bring a car to the front and that someone had to collect Merlin's overnight bag.

Shoving his phone back into his pocket he put an arm around Merlin's back and got a good grip on one of his arms, pulling him upwards into the sitting position.

"You okay? Can you stand?" Merlin nodded and Arthur pulled him fully onto his feet.

Arthur smiled broadly as he walked down the halls of his and Merlin's mansion, ignoring the looks and stares of his men. He helped Merlin into the car and wrapped his arms around husband. "Let's go meet our daughter."


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue time... Thanks for reading :)**

* * *

Merlin was being wheeled into the hospital and pushed by Arthur towards the reception desk. A few of Arthur's men had come along - a wish that Merlin had shared with his husband a few weeks beforehand. Among them were Leon, Gwaine and Lancelot, they were dressed in casual wear to not cause too much suspicion.

Merlin breathed in and out like the instruction books described, breathing through a contraction that just pulled through.

"Merlin Pendragon, I've called about it a few minutes ago." Arthur explained quickly to the nurse manning the desk. It were indeed just a few minutes. Arthur kept telling his driver to go faster and faster, while Merlin tried to calm Arthur down and telling him that it could take hours before the child would even be born. That did not stop Arthur in continue to worry.

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you." She told Arthur before addressing Merlin. "How often do you experience the contractions?"

"I guess about every five minutes."

"Every four minutes and twenty-one seconds." Arthur hurriedly said, looking at his watch for the umpteenth time while holding Merlin's hand. The nurse behind the desk chuckled.

"Well, let's get you to the labour ward shall we, there is a private room prepared and the doctor will be in shortly to check everything."

"Is he here already? Can I talk to him, I need to know-"

Merlin poked a finger in Arthur's side as he couldn't reach his husband's head to stop his babbling. "Arthur stop it, seriously." He turned to the nurse. "Sorry about him."

"Oh it's fine, the partner is usually more nervous than the person who has to give birth. I'll make sure to arrange some sedatives." She winked at Merlin who snorted as she came from behind the counter to show the way to the room.

Arthur had made sure to pick out the top of the art hospital that specialized in child birth and arranged everything so Merlin would be as comfortable as possible. He even flew in Gaius - his family doctor - a month ago, specifically for the birth.

Arrived in the room, Arthur helped Merlin settle into the bed and changed him into one of the hospital gowns. He started rubbing Merlin's back as the contractions followed up quicker now. His men were waiting in the hallway to keep a watchful eye on the surroundings.

"Not long now." Arthur whispered.

"Let's hope so, I don't think I can – oh god!" Merlin groaned in pain as the next contraction hit him. It felt even worse than that time he was in the room with Cenred, which was hardly anything compared to this. At least he had one advantage now compared to that time, which was not having to deal with the dizziness that tormented him back then.

The door opened and Gaius with a nurse entered the room. He first put on some latex gloves and rubbed his hands together to make them a little warmer.

"So the little one finally decided it was time." Gaius said a bit sarcastically but his comments was ignored by both men. The nurse pulled the blankets just a little bit away to wrap a band around Merlin's waist and hooked it up to a machine that measured how strong the contractions were. Gaius waited peacefully for the first results that would roll out of the machine any moment now. And indeed, the machine started to spit out the first results within ten seconds.

Gaius observed and his eyebrow raised. "Well, I sure think she wants to get out fast now. How are you holding up Merlin?"

"I've had better days." He said, clenching his teeth and breathing harshly in and out. Arthur was feeling hopeless and just continued to rub Merlin's back, not knowing if Merlin was even appreciating it or feeling it. How much he wished he could be switching places with his husband now, he could never stand the sight of Merlin being in pain, he wanted to kill the person who was responsible for that. But seeing how this situation was pretty much his fault he was torn with guilt.

"Arthur, please. I need space to work. Don't let me send you outside." Gaius said sternly watching him from over the rim of his glasses in a way that he wouldn't like to be challenged at this moment. Arthur would usually _never_ listen to someone who told _him_ what to do, but he had known Gaius for his whole life, he didn't want to disrespect the man and so obediently moved away to the chair that was placed just a few foot from the bed.

"I'll be here, just breathe" Arthur said to his husband and he got a glare in return.

"Easy for you to say, you just have to sit there and do nothing, hnngh." – another contraction hit him. "Why don't you come here so I can punch you in the nuts, let's see how easy you will be breathing!"

Arthur stopped talking, biting his lip.

"Merlin, calm yourself. Lay back, so we can get a better reading." The pointed glare from his doctor made him listen and he laid back, taking deep breaths throug his nose and slowly releasing them out his mouth. Gaius felt some more around the stomach and pressed various spots and the nurse inserted a needle for the IV in Merlin's hand.

"We can't have you dilate too much, so the anaesthesiologist will be here any second now and after the anaesthesia has been injected we'll go to the operation room. Within thirty minutes you should be holding your daughter." Gaius explained, scribbling some medical notes onto Merlin's chart and then the door opened. A man in green scrubs entered with a sterile plate with the assumable anaesthesia put on top.

"You'll have to lie on your side Merlin." Gaius instructed and Merlin did so, clamping his hands around the bedrails, waiting for an excruciating pain that he expected to come when the anaesthesiologist would put in the needle into his back. In the end it turned out to be not that bad, he had hardly felt it. It was more a faint pressure, at least not as painful as some of the contractions were.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few." Gaius said, patting Merlin's shoulder and moved out of the room. Probably to the OR, Arthur thought and felt it was safe enough to leave his seat and grabbed his husband's hand in a tight grip, pecking a kiss on top of it.

Merlin felt the pain becoming less, but still noticeable. He looked guilty upwards to Arthur. "Sorry." He mumbled to apologize for his behaviour. The pain made him act at an almost humoristic level, now he thought back to it.

Arthur shook his head, smiling down on his husband. "Don't be, it's fine."

The door opened with two nurses walking in. "We're here to take you to the operation room."

**~oOoOo~**

Merlin laid on the table, a big green sheet was blocking any sight he hoped to see of the operation and Arthur sat directly next to him on a little stool. Keeping a tight grip on his hand and being dressed from head to toe in green sterilized scrubs. He watched how Arthur's eyes were trained onto the operation. Arthur could see what happened if he would lean back a little and that way he could look around the screen. Merlin chuckled when he saw Arthur becoming a bit pale.

"Don't go fainting on me, eh?" Merlin joked, but squeezed Arthur's hand when he felt a particular nasty pressure in his stomach. Arthur's eyes flicked immediately back to Merlin. The doctor told Arthur that Merlin shouldn't feel any pain, but that Merlin could still feel that they were pushing and pulling inside his stomach to get the baby out.

"You're in pain?" Arthur whispered, but Merlin shook his head.

"No, it's just a bit uncomfortable." Merlin whispered. The anaesthesiologist overheard him and upped the medication.

Arthur stood up from the stool and Merlin looked up to him with narrowed brows. "Oh my god…" Arthur breathed out, a small smile already moving onto his lips and at that same time Merlin felt the baby being pulled out of his stomach. He felt a huge relieve when he heard his baby starting to cry. The cry was infection and he started to cry himself, just happy tears that everything seemed to went well.

"It's indeed a girl." Gaius informed the couple and gave the baby to one of the nurses so she could be cleaned up andgetting checked over. Arthur didn't let his child out of sight for one second and was following all the nurses movements.

Merlin felt the surgeons working around his stomach some more, but he ignored it. He had turned his head towards the table where the nurse was busy cleaning his baby and all he wanted now was to hold his baby. He didn't had to wait long before the nurse came back to them with the baby in her arms and a pink baby cap placed on top of their baby's head and wrapped tightly into a warm pink blanket. She was passed onto Arthur.

Arthur looked down to the precious little being, so beautiful, so soft. He fell into his role as a parent instantly and made sure to support the head with his hand. Merlin watched with happiness, a twinkle of pride in his eyes. He could watch Arthur being like this all day. Instead of that always stern look that was usually covering his face, he now smiled broadly, he might be on the brink of crying even.

Arthur sat down on the stool and scooted closer to Merlin's face and showed his daughter, their daughter, to his husband. "She's perfect." Arthur whispered, waiting for the moment their girl would open her eyes. She only yawned for the first minute, but then… her eyes opened and two bright blue orbs stared back at Merlin and Arthur.

"She's got your eyes." Merlin mentioned softly, looking in awe at their daughter but feeling the tiredness creeping up at him. A nurse told Arthur they'd take Merlin to the postnatal ward where another private room was prepared for them.

Ten minutes later Merlin was lying comfortable into one of the soft beds, his daughter in his arms and Arthur hovering over them like a mother hen. Continuing to ask Merlin if he needed anything.

The door opened and the three closest men to Merlin and Arthur walked in, a smile plastered on their face. They were anxious enough for themselves to see the newest addition to the Pendragon family. Merlin smiled tiredly at them when they entered and passed his daughter over to Arthur, who proudly took her in his arms and walked to the three men. His line of work momentarily forgotten and he just enjoyed the time he could spend with his child.

Cooing of the three grown up - meant to be tough looking – men started once Arthur presented her to his men.

"What's her name?" They all three asked in sync. Arthur turned to Merlin who gave him a nod that made him turn back to the three men in front of him.

"Avalon. Avalon Taylor Pendragon."

**~oOoOo~**

_SIXTEEN YEARS LATER_

A blond blue eyed girl stalked angrily into the sitting room where Merlin was currently reading a book in one of the armchairs placed besides the fireplace. "Dad, tell father he's being unreasonable." She glared angrilyy towards the door.

"I am _not_." Arthur's voice followed from just outside the room, before making his appearance. A gun in his hand.

"Dad, he scared Daniel!"

"Arthur…" Merlin said in a condescending tone as Arthur plopped down in the arm chair next to his with a heavy sigh. "You didn't."

"You weren't there!" Arthur argued. "Avalon, you've got to give me some slack."

"We were _kissing_, it's not like he had sex me!"

Arthur winced at both words, he wouldn't want to think about his little girl being grown up and having sex already. Maybe he should just lock her up into her room and never let her out again. Yes, that was a good idea… unfortunally his husband would _never_ allow it.

"You kissed him, finally!" Merlin exclaimed happily, standing up, book forgotten on the armrest. "How was it?"

"Merlin! You're supposed to be on my side."

"Oh shut it, you overbearing prat." He turned towards his daughter, taking her hands into his own. "Is he a good kisser, did he use tongue?"

His daughter squealed. "Oh dad it was just perfect… well until _someone_ had to throw open the door and show up with a gun. _Seriously!_" She snapped at her father. "How will I ever face him again? Thank you for _ruining_ my _life_!" She stalked away, slammed the door and Merlin could hear the deliberate hard footsteps on the stair.

Shaking his head he walked back to the chair. "Arthur, Arthur, Arthur. You really overdid yourself tonight. Seriously, a gun?"

"She's my little girl." Arthur had muttered, digging himself deeper into the armchair.

"No Arthur, she's becoming a woman now. No don't scrunch your nose, it's time you face reality." He pointed his finger upwards that had to mean in pointing to their daughter's room. "She's angry at you now, I hope you know. And I think you should apologise to her _and_ Daniel. You know how crazy she is about that guy, don't be so stubborn and set your pride aside."

Arthur huffed.

"You will apologize _now_, or I will never, never ever, have sex with you again."

Arthur's shoulder sagged and he let his head down in defeat. "Fine." He murmured under his breath and dragged his body out of the chair and towards the door. Merlin smirked, even after all these years the 'no sex' argument always let him win every single discussion, no matter what the discussion was about.

**THE END.**

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******I hope you enjoyed this little story I squeezed out between the stories I _should've_ updated instead. Oh well, don't worry, I'll get back to those now.**

******Reviews are - as always - very welcome :)**


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